Sarah stared at the door Alan had left through, the sound of the front door slamming shut in haste still echoing through the house. She didn't need her power to tell her that something serious had happened at the shelter. Alan had been more than just stressed, and it had all come from a phone call.
"...Sarah?" Sirin's voice was quiet, her eyes focused on her friend. Sarah took a deep breath.
"Alan… Alan probably didn't want to make us panic," she said, looking away from the incomplete chess game between them. "But something has happened at the shelter. That's where he's going. We could… we could check the news? See if anything's there?"
"...okay."
Walking over to the sofa, their chess game forgotten, Sarah looked for the remote, only to have Sirin produce it and flick on the television. The channel was still the local news station Alan had turned on earlier.
_"-breaking news, a shelter that houses some of Brockton Bay's homeless population is currently ablaze, firefighters struggling to contain the fire. Details are still unknown, but several heroes, including Glory Girl, Panacea and Lady Photon, are present at the scene, assisting the emergency personnel. We now bring you live footage of the scene."_
Sarah felt her heart stop as she saw Alan's shelter, flames spewing from the windows. She could see the older heroes, but couldn't see Alan's car. A moment later she realized that it made sense, the man had left less than five minutes ago. It would take him at least ten, if everything went perfect and there was no traffic jam.
"...but why?" Sarah mumbled, her eyebrows furrowed. "Who gets something out of this?"
Sirin's golden eyes narrowed as the girl glanced at Sarah. Her fingers had tightened on the sofa, almost into fists. "…do you think… Do you think whoever did this is trying to hurt Alan? Trying to hurt us?"
"...maybe," Sarah whispered, her voice quiet. The blonde swallowed and looked back at the tv, where the fire was being put out by the various heroes, Glory Girl was carrying several people out of the shelter.
It was like it had been some deliberate action, something meant for a purpose. But what? She couldn't tell, not from this. Her power needed more data.
Sirin was tense beside her, the girl's yellow eyes narrowed and her unusual pupils almost glowing in the cloudy afternoon weather. Her friend was angry, but she wasn't alone in that.. The shelter was the first place that she'd been accepted since… Reggie. No one had judged her, called her an idiot or shamed her for the way she'd broken. It had been the first step to a new home. And someone had burned it.
"...we could go there," the words were out before Sarah had a chance to realize what she was saying. Sirin glanced at her, golden eyes questioning. "People there might need our help, and we could... Could you teleport us there?"
"...Yes, but I'm not sure that's a good idea," Sirin shook her head, her expression pained.
"Maybe it isn't," she agreed. But only on that, pushing on with a child's insistence. "But whoever did this, if we wait for Alan to come back any sign of them will be gone or destroyed. Alan…he'll be okay. But what about everyone else, Sirin? The other people at the shelter?"
"...I don't like this," the purple haired girl said softly. Sarah nodded, but didn't say anything else. After a moment of silence, Sirin took her hand.
"It's been... a long time, and I'm not sure if I've recovered. I might not be able to get us back here. And if I get weak… someone might hurt you," Sirin's eyes were locked on Sarah's and her cross-shaped pupils pulsed unnervingly. Sarah shivered slightly, but didn't turn her eyes away.
"I trust you." It was all she really could say.
"...we should change. Sirin sighed as she stood up. "And maybe grab a knife."
Sarah nodded, grabbing the remote to turn off the TV as they ran for their room. They didn't need to see that anymore.
Minutes later they were both dressed in simple jeans, sweaters and warm jackets. Sarah had wrapped the scarf around her face, just in case. Sirin, on top of it, put on a fluffy hat with cat ears that she'd found during their last shopping trip with Alan.
Somehow, it made Sarah smile when she saw the more childish side of her friend shine through. Even now. Maybe especially now.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. Give me a moment."
When she'd figured out that Sirin could teleport, Sarah had expected it to be something flashy. For winds to rise, or for lightning to flash. Instead Sirin grabbed Sarah's hand, stepped forward, and space in front of them simply parted. Only the gentle violet glow at the portal's edge made things any easier to process.
Sarah felt a pang of pain in her head for a brief moment, like her power had turned to static, somehow unable to properly comprehend the tear in reality in front of them. Shaking her head, Sarah did her best to ignore the sensation, instead glancing at Sirin. Her face was twisted in concentration.
"…are you alright?" Sarah asked.
"...It's been a while. But I'm not too tired," Sirin said, squeezing Sarah's hand. She could tell the girl wasn't lying, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried. Sirin was important.
"I'll be fine. Let's go." The purple haired girl pulled Sarah after her as they stepped through the portal. It only took a few moments for Sarah to recognise the alley they'd appeared in, it wasn't far from the shelter. But even here, the air was thick with smoke shouting, and the crackling of flames. Sirin coughed once, but seemed otherwise unbothered by the haze. Sarah found herself grateful for the scarf she'd decided to wrap around her face.
"...Alan isn't here," Sirin whispered, glancing towards the shelter. Sarah nodded, not needing a power to know he wouldn't be here yet. The girls' gazes met and Sarah could once again feel her power pushing, trying to analyze the girl in front of her and coming up with frankly ridiculous results.
"...we should take a closer look, see if we can help. Alan won't be here for a while," Sarah spoke slowly, forcing her power under control. She didn't need to get an information overload, especially since it could become needed in the near future. Sirin glanced at the shelter once more before nodding.
"...stay close to me," the purple haired girl muttered. She grabbed Sarah's hand again and led her towards the shelter. They could see the heroes at work, Panacea working on some of the elderly residents, Lady Photon flying around and helping with recon of sorts. Glory Girl helping the firefighters carry injured people to waiting paramedics.
"Can you sense everything inside the building? The fire isn't affecting you, right?" Sarah asked, quickly glancing at Sirin. The purple haired girl nodded, her brows furrowed.
'
Good. I can do this, then. Come on, Sarah, focus on who did this. Find the culprit.'.
"You want me to find the people still inside?" Sirin guessed. Sarah's train of thought was broken for a moment, causing her to hesitate for a moment before nodding.
"...please."
Sirin closed her eyes for a moment before glancing towards a part of the shelter. Sarah could almost feel the air around them change as Sirin took a step forward.
"There's six people still inside. All on the Second floor," Sirin pointed at the area in question. "Do you think I should just-"
"Get them out? Yes. But you should probably cover your face. We don't want people to know who we are. Not yet, at least."
"...Okay. But I'm getting you to the heroes first."
Sarah didn't argue, allowing Sirin to grab her hand and drag her towards Panacea.
"-don't worry, everything will be fine," the healer was saying to an elderly woman as she held her hand to check her. The woman was staring at the burning shelter with a desolate expression on her face.
Sarah knew her as the woman who'd offered her a second portion of soup when she'd first arrived. It made the desire to find the culprits for the fire grow much stronger.
Panacea either heard or somehow sensed Sirin and Sarah coming closer, as she turned to face them. She blinked at them owlishly, clearly surprised.
"You two are- What are you doing here?" Panacea asked. She glanced over them, looking for injuries.
"We heard about the fire," Sirin spoke, her voice confident. "Sarah thought we could come here and try to help. There are still people inside."
"...alright. Not sure how you're supposed to help, but go ahead and talk to the firefighters, I guess." Amy was already turning away, her tone brisk. "I'm a little busy right now."
"It won't take long," Sirin said, letting go of Sarah's hand. Before the blonde could speak, Sirin pulled up the scarf on her face, turned and marched towards the burning building. Some firefighter noticed her and tried to intercept the girl by grabbing her shoulder, only for his hand to go straight through what should have been a solid shoulder, making him stumble. Sarah's eyes widened. She'd gotten a good idea that Sirin was a powerful Shaker, but what sort of spatial manipulation could grant intangibility?
Sirin didn't even seem to have noticed the man, as she entered the burning shelter.
"...she can phase through stuff?" Sarah glanced at Panacea, the source of the question. The brunette's eyes were wide, her jaw slightly slack.
"...that's… no, that's not-" Sarah shook her head. "She's- Nevermind. Did anyone...?"
"Die? No. Luckily, the fire alarm worked perfectly.
"What happened?" Sarah asked, just in case. Even though she could probably rely on her power to get answers, it was a crutch that wouldn't always help. Her near-capture by the ABB had taught her that much.
"How am I supposed to know?" Panacea frowned, turning away and heading for the next person that had paramedics surrounding them. "Ask the firefighters. They've got a better idea than me."
Sarah bit her lip. It wasn't a particularly helpful answer, but there was nothing she could do to try and pry information that Amy didn't have out of her.. She'd have to act quickly if she wanted to get anything before Alan arrived to prove that she wasn't useless. Which meant leaving Amy and going to the firefighters.
Alone
The thought filled her with dread. Every moment of her waking hours she spent either by Sirin's side or not far from the girl, knowing that she was safe and protected. But now, Sirin wasn't there. She was helping people, without a single shred of fear. It filled Sarah with pride, that her friend was able to be so strong, after everything. That didn't change the fact that Sirin wasn't beside her now, leaving her alone and exposed.
Shaking her head, the blonde took a deep breath and did her best to push down the fear, instead focusing on the firefighters that were carrying the injured to the paramedics. Alan would arrive soon, and if she had nothing to show for her efforts, she would end up disappointing him. Just like she disappointed her-
She shook her head, forcing that memory back. Then she pulled her scarf up and made a beeline for the firefighter who'd tried to stop Sirin. The man was busy talking to a couple of paramedics and didn't notice her approaching, which allowed Sarah to get within three feet before he turned to face her.
"Hey. Kid, it isn't safe here for you. How'd you even get here? Go over to the heroes," the man frowned, his eyes glancing between her and the shelter. Sirin was walking back, a child in her arms and two people following her, looking dazed. Sarah swallowed and nodded, before she realized he probably wouldn't see it.
"I'm with S- the phasing girl. We're here to help."
"The 'phasing girl'?" The man blinked. Sarah shrugged, trying not to give too much away.
"Work in progress. Can you tell me what happened? What set off the fire?"
"You aren't one of those PRT interns or something, are you?" The firefighter sighed. "...Alright, kid. We don't know. And it's too early to tell until the fire's put out. We won't know anything until we can look over the remains after that..
"Now, I understand you're here with," he gestured at Sirin, "her. But please, can you step back and wait with the heroes? I'd rather not have anyone else get hurt here."
Sarah sighed. That wasn't what she wanted to hear. Her power was buzzing in the back of her head, the lack of concrete data frustrating. It made her think harder, to try and understand the situation.
The shelter had caught fire. Alan had been called, and that's why he left. The heroes had been called by either Alan, the police or someone else, which was why they were present.
Glory Girl, Lady Photon and Panacea were present.
...if her power wanted more data, what about the heroes?
"Uh, miss… are you alright?" The firefighter asked, raising an eyebrow. Sarah blinked before nodding.
"I'm fine, thank you. Do you mind if I…?" the blonde motioned towards where the heroes were working. The firefighter gave her a bemused nod, and Sarah flashed him a thumbs up before turning around and walking back to the other heroes.
Glory Girl was busy helping the paramedics with the rescued residents of the shelter, the golden haired heroine chatting with one of the residents, while Panacea worked to heal any injured. Lady Photon, however, was standing to the side, talking to a police officer.
"...can you tell me more about the fire?" Sarah heard the older heroine say. The officer shrugged, his expression pained.
"It looks like it started from one of the gas cookers," the man sighed. "Which is worrying, since those are supposed to have an automatic shut down in case of emergency."
"So you're thinking arson?"
"Yes. But we can't know for sure until the firefighters are done with their work. And even then, there are no promises of anything. Fires usually destroy most evidence."
Lady Photon nodded, frowning. Sarah frowned, trying to get closer to eavesdrop a bit more. But the conversation didn't continue, as the heroine turned around and glanced at the shelter. Sarah bit her lip, trying to decide if she should approach the heroine or not.
"...Lady Photon?" Sarah asked, making Lady Photon jump and turn to face her. The woman let out a sigh of relief, shaking her head.
Recognizes you. Surprised you're here so quickly, but not that you came. Will want to talk to you about this later.
"You startled me." Lady Photon said, as Sarah absorbed her power's insight. "Who are you? How did you get here?"
"I'm here to help," Sarah shrugged. "My friend is bringing out the people that were still inside."
"Your…friend?" Lady Photon blinked. Sarah nodded, glancing back towards the shelter. Sirin was on her way back to the paramedics, another child in her arms. Behind her, a young man supported an elderly woman out through the swiftly vanishing purple ring of the girl's portal.
"You've been very helpful. Are you like your friend?" Lady Photon asked. Sarah nodded, getting the unspoken part of the question.
"I see. How exactly can you help? I can see what the 'phasing girl' is doing, but what about you?"
"I'm... just think of Sherlock Holmes." Sarah said quickly. "I want to help figure out what happened here."
Lady Photon tilted her head, seemingly mulling over the information for a moment, before shrugging.
"It can't hurt, I suppose. Do you need anything?"
"I guess... a list of everyone that works at the shelter?" Sarah suggested. Lady Photon frowned, before glancing towards Panacea.
"Amy, can you bring over the resident's list? There's a girl here that wants to take a look," the heroine called out. Panacea glanced between Lady Photon and Sarah, before sighing and muttering something under her breath. Sarah decided to ignore the heroine, instead focusing on the list Panacea shoved into Lady Photon's hands and passed onto Sarah.
"Thanks" the blonde nodded, taking the list and sitting down on the sidewalk, her power humming eagerly.
The residents' list was rather simple, with the names, ages and a few details of the shelter's inhabitants. Sarah ran her finger through the list, briefly glancing at the name before moving on to the next.
John, 30, former alcoholic.
Helena, 67, diabetic.
And so on. Sarah frowned, going through the list twice before glancing at the shelter. Sirin was walking out again, this time with two older boys in tow..
"This… should be all, right?" Sarah asked Lady Photon, glancing up from the list and at the woman who was looking at the shelter with a strange expression on her face. The heroine blinked and turned to face her.
"I… yes. Everyone's out, as far as I know," the older blonde nodded. Sarah nodded, frowning.
"Okay. Thank you. Can I…?" the blonde motioned towards the shelter. Lady Photon nodded, causing Sarah to quickly jog towards her friend, who waved her over.
"That's everyone I could find." Sirin said, her scarf still covering her face. "Are they all okay?" Sarah nodded, motioning at Panacea.
"They'll be fine. Let's go home," the blonde suggested. Sirin glanced at the heroes, before looking back at the shelter and visibly hesitating.
"They still haven't dealt with the fire. Maybe I can help, somehow? Make a portal to the pay above the building??"
"No, it's fine. You've helped enough. Come on, we need to leave," Sarah shook her head, glancing at Panacea and Glory Girl. The brunette was glancing at Sirin every now and then, seemingly trying to pretend she wasn't staring.
"Look, just let me talk to the firefighters. It'll be quick," Sirin insisted and moved forward, pulling Sarah after her, forcing the blonde to remind herself that the girl had some degree of superhuman strength. Just because Sirin was 'small and cute' didn't mean she couldn't fold someone into a pretzel.
"Okay, fine. But hurry up," Sarah huffed, following Sirin. The firefighters glanced at the two girls, but didn't seem too bothered by their presence.
"Is there anything else that can be done?" Sirin asked, glancing between the men. The older one that had talked to Sarah before, sighed and shrugged.
"Not much, Miss. It's not easy to deal with fires, and this one is burning rather brightly," the man sighed. "You've done good, getting people out, but there's not much else to do."
"I'm not just phasing," Sirin said stubbornly. She frowned, letting go of Sarah's hand to cross her arms. "I can put points in space together too. I could open a hole above the shelter for you to spray the water down on it."
The firefighters exchanged glances, before the older one shook his head.
"Thanks for the offer, but that much water will just collapse the building faster. And at this point, we're just trying to minimize damage," the man sighed. "And make sure that the fire doesn't spread to any nearby buildings."
Sirin pursed her lips, frowning. Sarah frowned too, but for a different reason. She wanted her power to help her find the people responsible for the fire, but there was nothing for it to work with for that. But she also wanted to help, and-
Structure likely to survive internal introduction of water. Many smaller portals, or a single one at the core of the fire.
"What if you opened a portal inside of the shelter? Let the firefighters go after the source of the fire directly?" the blonde spoke up. Sirin glanced at her, raising an eyebrow, but the older firefighter shrugged.
"Sure. If you can open a portal inside the burning shelter, be my guest. We're not going to stop you. Hell, that's probably easier than getting a firehose inside," the man nodded. Sirin glanced at Sarah, before turning her attention back to the firefighter.
"Alright, then. Sarah, step back," Sirin waited for Sarah to take a step back, then raised her arms. The air warped for a moment, brilliant colors flickering through it in a rainbow sheen as the purple-haired girl mustered her power.
Sarah heard the surprised exclamations of the firefighters as they watched the portal appear just above the ground a few feet away. The heat from it was a tangible thing, almost all-encompassing as close as the two girls were standing.
"Well, that's certainly something," the older firefighter nodded. He gave the two girls a short smile, then turned to his crew."That's handy as hell. Get one of the hoses over here, boys. Let's put out this fire?"
"Good job, girlie. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got work to do," the firefighter nodded, glancing towards Sarah. The blonde nodded, before grabbing Sirin's hand and turning around, quickly pulling her far enough to not feel the heat, but not too far for the firefighters to keep track of them. She didn't doubt that they'd need several portals, so they couldn't leave just yet.
Sirin let out a soft giggle, making Sarah raise an eyebrow.
"...that felt pretty cool," the purple haired girl shrugged, letting the scarf fall down. "Helping people feels… I don't know. But it feels good. We should come back tomorrow, to check how everyone's doing."
"Alright," Sarah nodded, biting her lip.
"We should visit the heroes as well. And Lady Photon too. I'm sure they have more questions," Sirin nodded to herself, seemingly not noticing Sarah's growing distress.
"Yeah, probably. But we can worry about it later," Sarah mumbled. Sirin blinked, tilting her head.
"...is everything alright?"
"Alan's coming. He should be here within five minutes."
"...ah."
"Yeah."
The two girls fell silent, listening to the sounds of the firefighters getting to work, putting out the fire. It sounded like they were having luck with Sirin's portal.
"How are we supposed to tell him that we came to help without warning him?" Sirin asked, tilting her head. Sarah shrugged, glancing towards the heroes. Glory Girl was standing close to her aunt and sister, making sure that Panacea wasn't bothered as she worked on the last of the injured residents.
"We could say that we saw it getting really bad on TV?" Sarah suggested. "He'll probably still be upset, though."
"Yes," Sirin nodded. "But I think he'll just be worried, too. That's not all bad.
"Thank you, though," the purple haired girl spoke up again. Sarah blinked, looking at her friend. Sirin smiled at her, taking Sarah's hand and giving it a small squeeze.
"...for?"
"For being a friend. For helping. Just… thanks, Sarah."
"You too, Sirin."
The two girls stood quietly, listening to the firefighters and heroes working.
Alan arrived about four minutes later, just as the fire was finally being put out.
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A/N: All of my thanks to
Snowfire for betaing this chapter, and sincerest apologies for it taking so long.
